Executives of Johns Manville (JM) recently held an official groundbreaking ceremony to commemorate the company’s new nonwoven glass mat production line at its facility in Etowah, Tenn.

Johns Manville (JM), a leading manufacturer of building and specialty products, announced last October that it would build a new state-of-the-art, high-speed line capable of producing more than one billion square meters of glass mat per year. The line will be fully operational by early 2007.

Johns Manville officials noted that the Etowah facility was selected as the site for this significant investment because of its strategic proximity to major roofing shingle and wallboard customers. Johns Manville has been a part of the Etowah community since 1978 and has two of its largest glass fiber furnaces located there.

Glass mats are a key component in the manufacturing of asphalt roofing shingles, glass-faced wallboard, and many specialty applications. According to industry projections, glass mat demand will exceed supply by 2006, making glass production the bottleneck in shingle and other finished-material production. The new line will also enable JM to support growing and evolving specialty mat applications.

Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is a leading manufacturer and marketer of premium-quality building and specialty products. In business since 1858, the Denver-based company has annual sales of approximately $2.5 billion and holds leadership positions in all of the key markets that it serves.

Johns Manville employs approximately 8,500 people and operates 43 manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe and China.